María del Carmen Abascal, nicknamed Maricarmen, had lived in the same apartment for over 70 years in the exclusive Madrid neighbourhood of Retiro when police helped evict her last week.
After the eviction, tens of thousands demonstrated this weekend against Spain's housing crisis - and the protests have since continued.
"We can't take it anymore. Either the rental system falls, or the government falls," Madrid's tenants' association wrote on X in a post urging residents to protest.
The wave of indignation and anger that has been unleashed is now unstoppable, spokeswoman Alicia del Río told the AP.
Calls for courage
Late Monday night, however, after days of protests, Maricarmen's lawyer announced that she was allowed to return home and had been offered a new eight-year lease with the property owner. The rent of 500 euros is about the same as before the rent increase.
"If the agreement we agreed on is signed, it is obviously a better and more favorable solution for everyone," says Maricarmen's lawyer Beatriz Duro.
Duro emphasizes that the turnaround is due to the large turnout of activists who supported Maricarmen. She became a symbol of the protests and contributed greatly to increasing engagement.
Maricarmen has criticized Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who in a speech at a political meeting in Madrid this weekend directly addressed the 87-year-old.
I have a message for you, Maricarmen: the government is working around the clock to produce an urgent decree on housing on Tuesday.
However, it is unclear whether such a decree, which must be approved by parliament afterwards, will pass. Sánchez leads a fragile minority government.
“The Drop”
Despite Spain's economic growth, many have been hit hard by rising housing costs and a housing shortage. In the past decade, the average rent in Madrid has almost doubled, according to property portal Idealista.
Maricarmen's father first rented the apartment in 1956 and she remained a tenant with rent control after her parents passed away.
In 2018, the building changed hands, and Maricarmen was offered the apartment but couldn't afford it. The new owner raised the monthly rent from €500 to €2,650 (from around €5,650 to almost €30,000).
Later, the rent was reduced to 1,650 euros (closer to 18,700), but Maricarmen couldn't afford that either.
